Arsene Wenger Blames Arsenal's 3-2 Loss to Stoke on Poor Defence.

Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger has blamed his side's loss to Stoke City on the inefficiency of the defence.

The Gunners were hammered by the hosts just 20 seconds into the game when Peter Crouch struck to give Stoke the lead. Two others followed in the first half before Santi Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey reduced the margin in the second half through goals from a penalty and a volley respectively. Before Arsenal could score any at all, a fourth goal from Mark Hughes' men was disallowed which helped reduce the humiliation on Arsenal.

Arsenal then became the better side after scoring two in quick succession until defender Calum Chambers got a second booking which meant he had to leave the pitch thereby reducing the visitors to 10 men. The game finished 3-2.

According to the manager, the fragile state of his back four went a long way to ensure they never left with at least a point.

“We gave a lot again today and we have shown a great mental response but we weren’t decisive enough in the challenges in the first half,” Wenger told Arsenal Player.

“Defensively we were not dominant enough and we paid a high price for that. We were a bit unlucky as well on one or two goals. Overall the team has put in a lot of effort with great spirit but defensively we were too fragile.

“We had chances in the first half. Giroud had a great header completely on his own and in the second half we had chances. Once again the disease we’ve had since the start of the season is from multiple set-pieces - we don’t do enough.

"This team has a great spirit but today it was important to be 0-0 at half-time. We could have won this game in the second half but unfortunately we weren’t able to do it because defensively we were not dominant enough in the challenges.”